Finding Rest in Limitations for 2022

Life is made up of habits. One of the worst habits I’ve picked up is turning to social media as a coping mechanism for everything. Stressed? Watch some funny videos. Bored? Scroll through eye-catching pictures. Sad? Watch more funny videos. Happy? Turn to the screen to try and keep it going.

As a result, unlimited entertainment evolved into unlimited issues. Anxiety. Depression. Isolation. I could go on. With so much time dedicated to social media, my life had become anything but restful. It had transformed into an unrelenting quest for fulfillment through entertainment. But when the social media buffet kept rolling by with new content to consume every second, I realized I'd never be fulfilled.

The sad part is, this reliance on social media is not uncommon. In fact, it’s a massive problem. We’ve seen the articles and the videos about it—they all talk about how social media has lead to the rapid deterioration of mental health. We know it’s a problem. There’s nothing we can do about it, other than shutting down our internet. But we know that’s never going to happen, so we just shrug our shoulders and go back to scrolling.

But I did something about it.

You see, I had grown quite tired of this constant quest for content. And I had tried many times in the past to do one of those “screen detoxes”. You know what those are—it’s where you go off of the internet for a week and try to appreciate life without a screen. I’d enjoy the clarity and joy that came from these detoxes for a short while. I’d think, wow, I’m actually doing it! Life is so much better without a screen! Then the siren song of my phone would call, and I would drift back to it like clockwork.

But as 2022 crept closer, I had an idea to attain a more restful mental state. It stemmed from faint recollections of a time when entertainment was limited: long awaited Friday movie nights, Saturday morning cartoons, Sunday family shows, etc. I realized that the key to overcoming my social media addiction wasn’t to completely cut it out of my life, but to limit it.

For the next several weeks before the beginning of the new year, I dedicated my time to constructing a social media entertainment calendar. I specifically focused on YouTube media, since that was my number one time consumer. I began cherry picking some of my favorite YouTube videos and assigning them to every day on the 2022 January calendar. I would only be allowed to watch those specific videos for those specific days.

The thought process behind this approach went like this:

1. I knew I enjoyed the videos, so I’d be happy and entertained re-watching them

2. I would actually remember what I had watched instead of not remembering the dozens of new videos I'd consumed in a mindless internet binge

3. Once I'd grown bored of these videos, I would get up and engage in other activities (such as wellness activities I had also included as daily goals for the new year)

4. I would hopefully have more focus to perform these other activities

For each day, I would have a different video category that fit my watching style. They were as follows:

1. A funny video compilation

2. A YouTube clip

3. A YouTube animation

4. A YouTube animatic

As I worked on this, it occurred to me that I should also include other forms of entertainment beyond the social media scope. So I started including a favorite book for each day, a favorite show, and a favorite movie. I also included a daily art tutorial for each day, so I could still experience new content in a more constructive and healthy way.

I wouldn’t have to engage with any of these other forms of entertainment if I didn’t want to; they simply provided more options if I felt I needed them.

The big test came when January 2022 finally rolled around.

Would it work? Would I resist temptation and turn all my attention to the special entertainment calendar I had created for myself? The result was… this had probably been one of the greatest ideas I’d ever had.

Every single day, since January 1st, whenever I felt that urge to tune out and binge watch content, I'd turned to this calendar and consume whatever entertainment had been laid out for that day. As a result, I’ve felt my mind slowly reverting to a more restful state of being.

What was also surprising, was how fun it was to re-watch some classic YouTube videos I hadn't seen in a long time. It was like rediscovering parts of myself from that time when I had first seen those videos. I could rest in the reassurance that my entertainment was thoughtfully crafted to my preferences every single day. I would never be disappointed in my choices.

Another benefit of this calendar was that, as I hypothesized, I had become more engaged in other activities besides social media. I was hitting my daily wellness checklist with surprising success. Occupationally, I'd begun working on my creative writing with far less anxiety and more focus. Socially, I'd started reaching out to my friends more. Physically, I'd started exercising more. I even decided to write this article when, in the past, I never would have attempted it.

It should be noted that there were some exceptions to this calendar. If friends shared something for me to watch, I’d watch it. If my family wanted to watch a show or a movie, I’d sit down and watch it with them. I’d allow myself to watch educational videos for the purpose of learning something new. And sometimes I'd watch random content, but surprisingly, I never felt the need to binge watch more. The entertainment calendar provided a safety net for when I’d want to engage in aimlessness scrolling, and caught me before I could fall down the rabbit hole.

There is a freedom in limitations. You become more creative with what you are given, instead of helpless with nonstop content. From this experience I learned that you should become the master of hijacking your own mind, instead of leaving that to the professionals who make a business out of it.

The goal for 2022 is to have a more sound, restful mind. I hope that my personal experience in this experiment can provide some guidance for others struggling in this area. Good luck.